The Day After
by Hotel-Japanifornia
Summary: After Redd White is put away for Mia's murder, Maya and Phoenix still have a lot to take in. Luckily, they have each other.


It had been a day since Redd White was convicted of Mia's murder and Phoenix and Maya became partners. Their first day working together was mostly quiet and uneventful as no clients had asked Phoenix for his services which was fortunate for him as he needed to take care of paperwork. Phoenix sat at his desk and completed paperwork at a brisk pace and didn't look up from his desk once until his eyes started getting tired. He looked out the window and saw that the sky was starting to show the orange and yellow hues of early evening. He took this opportunity to get up and stretch his legs. He walked over towards the window and began stretching out his arms when he heard a cheery voice call out from behind him.

"Needed to stretch huh, Nick?" He was startled and whipped around to see Maya Fey, his boss's little sister and his new assistant, standing by the door to the office. He wasn't quite sure what he thought of the girl. At first she had seemed demure but upon becoming partners, Phoenix had learned that Maya was a very cheerful person. If he didn't know any better, Phoenix wouldn't have thought that this girl was the suspect for her sister's murder just a few days ago. Maya stepped towards Phoenix with a cheeky grin on her face and took notice of his startled expression.

"What's up? Cat got your tongue?" She teased. Phoenix said nothing but nodded. She walked closer to him and her eyes widened as she realized where Phoenix was standing. "N-Nick...why are you standing where Sis..." Her pointer finger shook in nervousness as she spoke. Phoenix blinked in confusion before he turned his head and realized that he was standing directly in front of the window where his beloved mentor's body had been sitting under only five days ago. Suddenly, Maya's arms wrapped tightly around his waist and she buried her head in his chest. Phoenix returned Maya's embrace and she looked up at him with tears building up in her eyes.

"S-she's really gone...isn't she?" Maya's voice was hesitant. Phoenix frowned sadly but nodded. Maya's head returned to its former position as she sobbed hard and her embrace tightened. Phoenix rubbed the girl's back with one hand as she cried and felt his eyes stinging from his own unshed tears as he held her. He was unsurprised when he shed a few tears of his own. Maya's heavy sobs gradually turned into soft whimpers and then stopped entirely. The two released their embrace and Maya looked at Phoenix gratefully as she wiped some of her tears with her sleeve. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her voice was croaky as she spoke.

"T-thanks, Nick." She said. Phoenix smiled at her warmly.

"You're welcome, Maya. Is there...anything else I can do for you?" Phoenix asked. He was hesitant about asking her at first feeling that he might come off as insensitive but he was pleasantly surprised when the faintest trace of a smile appeared on Maya's lips.

"Um...maybe some dinner," She spoke shyly, "I could go for a burger right now." Phoenix couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the girl's request.

"Alright then, burgers it is." He noted, looking amused, "Let me just grab my wallet." Phoenix grabbed his wallet from his satchel and left the office arm in arm with Maya. The two walked out of the office building in silence and headed towards Grilliam Shakespeare. Once they walked in, Phoenix went up to the counter and ordered a regular chicken sandwich and a water for himself and two burgers and a soda for Maya. Once their order had been rung up, Phoenix paid and the two sat across from each other at a booth. They ate their meal in silence with Maya gobbling her burgers in record time. By the time she finished, Phoenix had only eaten half of his chicken sandwich. If there was one thing Phoenix could conclude about his new assistant in the short time that he'd known her, it was that she had a huge appetite.

Once she finished her meal, Maya glanced out the window in silence with her brows furrowed as if she was deep in thought. She stirred her soda with her straw as she continued to look out the window. Phoenix took notice of this and put his chicken sandwich, now less than halfway finished, down on the plastic tray in front of him and gazed at her curiously.

"Got something on your mind?" He asked. Maya's eyes shifted towards him as he spoke but she did not turn away from the window.

"Yeah...you could say that." She admitted.

"Would you like to share?" He inquired, raising his brows curiously. She turned away from the window and gazed at Phoenix. She had a nostalgic look in her eyes and smiled fondly as she continued stirring her soda.

"Well, this is the restaurant that Sis took me to when I first visited the city," Maya reminisced, "When my sister left for the city, the two of us would often communicate through phone calls or letters. When she managed to get into the law school she wanted to so much, she was so happy that she invited me down here for lunch and I had my first burger. That was one of my fondest memories regarding Sis."

Once she finished telling her story, Maya wiped a spare tear that had ran down her cheek and looked up at Phoenix with that same fond smile on her face.

"What about you?" She asked softly, "Do you have any fond memories of her?" Phoenix looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"Gosh that's hard to answer," He scratched his head as he thought of a way to respond. It wasn't as if he didn't have fond memories of the Chief. It was just that, like Maya, there were so many to choose from. After thinking hard on it for a minute, he spoke.

"Well, there was this one time when I was still studying for my bar exam and interning under her," He started, "The week before the bar, I was super anxious about passing and I was studying as hard as I could. The whole time, she was right beside me, encouraging me and making sure that I wasn't pushing myself too hard. When I found that I had passed, she just grinned and looked at me as if to say, 'See?'" Maya smiled warmly as she heard Phoenix's story and chuckled lightly.

"She was really good to both of us, huh?" She remarked. Phoenix smiled.

"Yeah, she was." Phoenix replied. The two of them continued to share fond memories of Mia as well as stories about themselves. They laughed, smiled, and even teared up a little bit. Upon exiting the place, Maya turned to Phoenix with a soft smile on her face.

"You know, Nick. Sharing those stories made me feel better in a way." She admitted.

"Yeah, me too." He replied. The two walked back to the office in comfortable silence as they enjoyed the company of the other. Dealing with the grief that had been brought on as a result of the death of Mia Fey would be hard but as long as the two had each other, nothing was impossible.


End file.
